GREENVILLE, S.C. - Two former campus police officers at the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg have filed a federal lawsuit claiming they were threatened after they accused supervisors of unfairly treating minorities.

Michael S. White and Michael L. Smith, both of Duncan, filed the suit. The University of South Carolina-Spartanburg and the University of South Carolina-Columbia are named as defendants. Representatives from both schools declined to comment Wednesday to The Greenville News.

White said he noticed after his October 1999 hire that other officers frequently used racial slurs and that whites and blacks accused of similar crimes were treated differently.

White said he filed a five-page statement with the universities in June that prompted an investigation. But soon after, he and Smith were threatened in an attempt to silence them, according to the lawsuit.

During a training session, supervisors turned from cleaning their guns and pointed their weapons at White and Smith, according to the suit. A sergeant also fired his service weapon into the police department floor, two feet from Smith and about 15 feet from White, the suit alleges.

White also said he found listening devices in the ceiling of the department's common room. The suit said he contacted the FBI after microphones were discovered in two patrol car doors.

White and Smith said they informed a supervisor from the Columbia office about their treatment, but that the supervisor refused to take action. Both men were forced out of their jobs by November 2000, the suit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, their former supervisors later attempted to hire a private investigator to take audio and video surveillance of them.